Radioactive materials may be used for treating various illnesses including tumors and nodules. For example, radioactive materials, such as iodine.sup.125 palladium.sup.103, or the like, may be implanted into a patient to provide localized radiation treatment of tumors.
It will be appreciated that such radioactive materials must be stored and transported in containers which protect patients, medical personnel and others that must handle the radioactive material from unnecessary exposure to radiation. Additionally, the radioactive materials must be packaged to allow safe transport from the manufacturer to an end user. Further, such radioactive materials must be safely packaged for storage at a facility, such as a warehouse or a hospital.
Conventional containers for transporting devices containing radioactive material are generally made of lead or steel or some other radiation shielding material. These containers, however, may be large, awkward, and heavy. Shipping such containers may be difficult, thereby increasing costs for the radioactive material, and discouraging return, cleaning and/or reuse of the containers.
One such existing container is made from a large block of steel having a handle formed integrally therewith. Within the steel block are formed a number of cylindrical cavities each for receiving a magazine containing radioactive seeds. Such steel containers are inordinately heavy and cumbersome and do not provide complete shielding of the radiation which escapes from the magazine.
Additionally, it is often necessary to sterilize medical equipment before use. The large size and weight of existing containers for magazines of radioactive seeds make them awkward to clean and/or sterilize. Also, these containers are unwieldy for handling the small quantities of radioactive material used in individual surgical procedures.
These and other drawbacks for presently available containers exist.